Which to use
“isla” is a noun and “Islas” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #939
- “isla” frequency rank
- #2,298
- “Islas” frequency rank
- 3237
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | isla | Islas |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Territorio rodeado completamente por agua. | Apellido. |
Where the eye mixes isla and Islas
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses isla with Islas
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: isla is [ˈisla] while Islas is [ˈislas]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “isla” sits inside “Islas”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3237, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
isla is recorded at frequency rank #939, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈisla]. Islas is at rank #2,298, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈislas].
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 3237, this pair ranks #318,748 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of isla vs Islas
Shared letters: ails. Private to "isla": -. Private to "Islas": -.
"isla" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "Islas" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "isla" and "Islas" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "isla" or "Islas" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "isla" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Islas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #318,748 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "isla" and "Islas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "isla vs iza". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #318,748 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.